Friday Box Office: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS on Track for Stunning $50+ Million Weekend with $26.1 Million Friday; EDGE OF TOMORROW Disappoints

Summer doesn’t have to be all about superheroes and blockbusters, and this weekend’s box office is a refreshing reminder that not everybody wants Transformersall the time. Fox 2000’s teen drama The Fault in Our Starsis off to a stellar box office debut, as the adaptation of the beloved John Green book pulled in $26.1 million on Friday, putting the film on track for an incredible $50-$52 million opening weekend—at least; that’s a bigger opening day than Woodley’s large-scale sci-fi thriller Divergent. The film is benefitting from positive reviews, excellent buzz, and the popularity of its lead actress Shailene Woodley, as director Josh Boone’s $12 million movie about two cancer patients who fall in love is proving to be the box office surprise of the summer. We could see the mammoth opening coming over the past month or so, but even then early estimates were conservative, putting the opening weekend at somewhere between $35-$38 million. Instead, the pic is overperforming, leaving the one and only Tom Cruise in its wake as his also-excellent sci-fi film Edge of Tomorrow pulled in a so-so $10.6 million on Friday, putting the smart and thrilling pic on track for an opening weekend around $30 million.

Hit the jump for more on the Friday box office, including the full Top 5.

There’s no doubt that The Fault in Our Stars’ Friday numbers are sky-high, but the big question will be how much the film drops on Saturday and Sunday. Author John Green’s source material has a legion of fans who were no doubt clamoring to see the movie as soon as possible, which could mean these numbers are front-loaded. However, word-of-mouth has been impossible to ignore, so I imagine the Fault box office will remain robust throughout the entire weekend. Some are even predicting a weekend total closer to $60 million.

As for Edge of Tomorrow, despite nearly universally positive reviews and charming lead performances from Cruise and Emily Blunt, general audiences failed to spark to the pic. The marketing campaign isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t really get across the film’s uniqueness and sense of humor, which set it apart from your generic sci-fi actioner. A $30 million weekend isn’t a bomb, but it’s certainly not great when you factor in the expense of the Warner Bros. pic. I personally think it’s the best “blockbuster” of the year thus far, so hopefully audiences catch on in the coming weeks. Cruise’s persona is still a huge draw overseas and the film is doing really well in China, so it’s not a total loss.

In its second weekend, Maleficent earned $10.1 million on Friday, putting it at #3 behind Edge and Fault and pushing the Disney pic past the $100 million mark domestically. X-Men: Days of Future Past, meanwhile, pulled in $4.5 million on Friday on track for a $14.7 million weekend, which would move its domestic total up to $189 million (besting the Spider-Manfranchise for the first time).

Check out Friday’s Top 5 box office below, and check back on Sunday for final numbers and analysis.